ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

I'll be making my way over to Raymond James Stadium shortly and will be giving you constant updates from the Cincinnati-South Florida game. Here are a few leftover notes to tide you over until kickoff:

• South Florida coach Jim Leavitt handed out copies of this Sports Illustrated article to his players, highlighting a passage where Tony Pike talked about getting hit as a freshman in high school and wanting to quit.
  
  "I remember telling my dad, 'I don't want to do this anymore. I hate football,'" Pike is quoted as saying in the story.The message Leavitt was trying to send to his players with that passage was clear.
  
  "[Pike] basically let the world know he's not a physical guy and does not like receiving hits," Bulls linebacker Kion Wilson said. "So that's our goal, to get after him."
  
  There's a small problem with the logic, though. I'm not sure how much the way Pike reacted to a hit some eight or nine years ago has much to do with where he is today. And the Bulls must be forgetting that he played against them last year with a broken arm.
  
  Still, you can tell that South Florida's game plan revolves around hitting Pike whenever possible.

• South Florida has won many big games, including a victory at Florida State last month. But Wilson said this one is bigger because it would put the Bulls in position to win the Big East for the first time.
  
  "There is so much this program hasn't accomplished yet," he said. "There are so many people who think we're not capable. This is a statement game for us. It will let us know how we'll compete the rest of the season in the Big East race."
• Cincinnati has been scoring so fast -- an average of a little over two minutes per drive -- that the offensive linemen have been able to stay very fresh. Though sometimes, center Chris Jurek said, they're not sure to do with all the time they have on their hands.
  
  "We'll go over to the sidelines to make adjustments," Jurek said. "But there's not much to adjust because everything is working."It will be interesting to see how the Bearcats react tonight if South Florida's defense knocks them out of an offensive rhythm for a couple of series, because that hasn't really happened all year.

• Leavitt and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly have both built programs in major metropolitan areas without the benefit of strong traditions. But the similarities pretty much end there.
  
  Leavitt is a defense-first guy, having cut his teeth under Bill Snyder. Kelly, though he began his career on defense, is now known more for his offense. Kelly is the ultimate salesman, a smooth talker who feels at ease in front of any microphone or tape recorder. Leavitt gives a lot of short, terse answers and often acts like he'd rather be anywhere else than an interview session.Leavitt ran a 40-yard dash this spring to promote the Bulls' spring game and is known for sprinting onto the field and headbutting players. Kelly doesn't get into that.
  
  "I look the way I do because gassers are not something I'm fond of," Kelly said. "I'm not that interested in that stuff. I'm always looking at what kind of sandwiches we have in the locker room prior to the game."

• Only one current Bulls player -- receiver Jessie Hester -- has ever beaten the Bearcats. Cincinnati has a three-game winning streak in this series and looks to become the first opponent to beat South Florida four straight years.
  
  The last time these two teams played in Tampa, they put on one of the wildest Big East shows in recent history. Cincinnati led 31-14 after the first quarter. The two teams combined for 10 turnovers. The Bulls made a big comeback but couldn't close the deal, as two straight Matt Grothe passes in the end zone fell incomplete to end the game. The Bearcats won 38-33

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

As the Big East's associate commissioner for football, Nick Carparelli is responsible for helping put together the league's showcase TV matchups.

"We make a conscious effort to put what we feel are the best games where the most people will see it," he said. "It takes a lot of good planning and a little bit of luck."

Whether it was preparation and or just good fortune, the Big East hit a home run with this week's schedule. A pair of 5-0, ranked teams will square off Thursday night when No. 8 Cincinnati travels to No. 21 South Florida (7:30, ESPN).

Not since 2007, when No. 18 South Florida beat No. 5 West Virginia on a Friday night, and Rutgers later upset the then second-ranked Bulls on a Thursday, has the Big East had such a prominent spotlight. This is the latest in the season that two undefeated, ranked Big East teams have played since those back-to-back Thursday night tilts in 2006 between Louisville and West Virginia, followed by the Cardinals and Rutgers.

While the 2006 showdowns each featured a pair of Top 10 teams gunning for a spot in the BCS title game late in the season, this mid-October face-off is just as intriguing for a number of reasons.

Both teams have outside shots at reaching the BCS title game. Cincinnati is already in the Top 10 and, with its upcoming schedule (Louisville, Syracuse and Connecticut), could easily be 9-0 if it gets past the Bulls.

South Florida has more rungs on the ladder to climb, but it has already beaten Florida State and gets No. 9 Miami at home on Nov. 28 in a potential BCS talking-point game.

The Bearcats have one of the nation's most prolific offenses, ranking third in the nation in scoring (42 points per game), sixth in passing (329 yards per game) and 11th in total offense (468.2 yards per game). They have a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender in quarterback Tony Pike, a first-team All-American candidate in receiver Mardy Gilyard and a quick-strike attack that is averaging a little more than two minutes per scoring drive.

"When you have athletes like they have who get in out in space and a guy pulling the trigger like Pike, you've got a lot of things going for you," South Florida defensive coordinator Joe Tresey said. "You put the tape on, and shoot, they're covering 60 yards in three or four plays."

	Cliff Welch/Icon SMI
	Jason Pierre-Paul has 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks this season.

South Florida is known for its defense, and the Bulls rank fifth in the FBS in points allowed (9.4 per game) and ninth in passing defense. They have two of the best pass-rushing defensive ends anywhere in George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul.

"It will be a great matchup between offense and defense," Cincinnati center Chris Jurek said.

But don't sell the others sides of the ball short for each team. The Bearcats, despite replacing 10 defensive starters from last year's Orange Bowl team, rank 10th in scoring defense (13.8 points allowed per game) and are tied with USC for the national lead in sacks. They're also third in the country in turnover margin.

Meanwhile, the Bulls -- despite losing star quarterback Matt Grothe for the season with a knee injury -- are scoring 37 points a game and have the second-best passing efficiency rating in the FBS behind redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels. They're also eighth in turnover margin.

"How can you not be excited about this, really?" South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said.

The buzz is evident in Tampa. The Bulls have purchased a billboard near I-4 and I-275 encouraging fans to "Go Green," while the top of the SunTrust Financial Centre downtown will be lit green and gold Thursday. Players and coaches held breakfasts around town this week with local schools, businesses and media outlets to promote the game.

Really, though, this game promotes itself.

"This is why you sign up for this," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "This is why kids come to their respective schools, because they want to play big games like this on national TV."

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Here are three keys for each team in tonight's showdown between No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 21 South Florida:

Cincinnati

Slow the Bulls' pass rush: South Florida defensive ends George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul will have their ears pinned back, ready to get after Tony Pike. That, more than anything else, can throw off the Bearcats' offense and turn things in South Florida's favor. Pike will likely be in the shotgun most of the night, and look for coach Brian Kelly to use screens and moving pockets to keep Pierre-Paul and Selvie on their heels.

"Those two guys coming off the edge, they'll sack you," Kelly said. "So you'd better have some answers. I think we've got answers."

Strike first and fast: Cincinnati has had very little trouble scoring quickly this season. It is averaging 2:25 and just 6.8 plays per scoring drive. With 12 days to prepare, look for Kelly to have some new wrinkles early in the game. Getting off to a fast start will help quiet what is expected to be a large, loud crowd and force the Bulls to play catch-up.

Contain B.J. Daniels: Kelly compared South Florida's redshirt freshman quarterback to Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor, who of course helped beat the Bearcats in last season's Orange Bowl. Daniels is a dual-threat guy with a surprisingly strong arm.

"When you have an athletic running quarterback, do you stop the run?" Kelly said. "If you stop the run, then you're one-on-one on the outside. If you play just pass, then you give him the opportunity to run the football. It's a great balance, when you have a quarterback that can do both. We've got to pick our spots."

Daniels has been remarkably poised in his first two starts, at Florida State and at Syracuse. But he showed in both games that he is susceptible to the occasional rookie mistake. If Cincinnati can make him one-dimensional or confuse him in coverage, Daniels becomes less of a threat.

South Florida

Get physical: At Florida State, the Bulls set the tone early with some bone-rattling hits, particularly a fumble-causing shoulder blow from safety Jon Lejiste. Finesse spread teams like Cincinnati usually don't enjoy physical games.

South Florida needs to knock receivers off their routes at the line of scrimmage and make ball carriers pay the price. Neither Pike nor Mardy Gilyard is built very sturdily, so a few big hits could have them hearing footsteps, and maybe even create some turnovers. Do that, and the game swings toward the Bulls.

"We've got to try to be intimidating," Selvie said.

Go vertical: If Cincinnati has shown a weakness thus far, it's in the back line of its defense. Injuries and inexperience in the secondary so worried Kelly against Fresno State that he started a converted receiver (Marcus Barnett) at corner and stayed in deep cover-two zone the entire game.

The Bulls have the ability to test those defensive backs with the deep ball. Receiver Carlton Mitchell has four catches of 50 or more yards already this season. If the Bearcats shade their coverage toward him, that should open things for guys like Dontavia Bogan and Sterling Griffin. South Florida will need some big plays to keep up with Cincinnati.

Handle Cincinnati's pace: Selvie said that the Cincinnati's up-tempo offense caught the defense off guard last year in Nippert Stadium.

"We couldn't even get lined up," he said. "It took us out of our game plan a little bit."

The Bearcats are playing even faster this year, and South Florida needs to be ready. The team has recently devoted an extra period at the end of practice to getting the defense used to a hurry-up attack from the Bulls' No. 1 offense. Defensive players must communicate to each other quickly and get in the right spots to avoid mismatches, even if they've just been gashed by a big play.

"We have to be able to maintain our composure and get lined up," linebacker Kion Wilson said.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Some interesting comments, as usual, from Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly at his weekly news conference today. Here's a brief synopsis:

• Linebacker/defensive end Curtis Young, who's returning from knee surgery, will start Thursday night against South Florida.

"We don't expect him to play every snap," Kelly said. "But we think he gives us obviously the best chance to win when he's in the lineup."

Young might be the team's best pass-rusher. He had 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in his two games before being hurt in practice.

• Kelly wants to get receiver Mardy Gilyard the ball more and in different situations. Gilyard has by no means been ignored; he has 38 catches for 517 yards and seven touchdowns and has been Tony Pike's top target. But Kelly wants to find different ways to use him, including lining him up occasionally in the backfield.

"This isn't about, the offense has to run through Mardy," Kelly said. "But it does require us to be creative and making sure he gets touches."

• Kelly didn't seem too concerned earlier this month about his offense's dwindling possession time. The Bearcats had the ball for fewer than 17 minutes against Fresno State and under 20 minutes against Miami (Ohio). But Kelly said he didn't mind his offense scoring quickly.

After reviewing things during the bye week, though, Kelly now says that's an issue that needs addressing.

"If we could score on every drive in two minutes, that would be fine with me," Kelly said "But I have to be cognizant of the fact that playing 86, 87 snaps on defense is probably not the best thing. We have to be more efficient on third downs defensively and do a better job of possessing the football on offense."

Cincinnati is allowing opponents to convert 49 percent of its third downs, which Kelly said is way too high. And while he doesn't think "possessing the ball" necessarily means running it more, he said the offense must avoid three-and-outs. Sometimes that will mean slowing things down, too.

"Maybe after a score where the defense has been on the field 15 to 18 plays, let's look at that," Kelly said. "I have to be thinking about that as we're managing the entire game."

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Cincinnati's offense is full of sound and fury. Heisman Trophy candidate Tony Pike, star receiver Mardy Gilyard and the rest of the skill players garner most of the attention.

	Rich Kane/Icon SMI
	Cincinnati prefers nimble, athletic offensive linemen, and even 313-pound Jeff Linkenbach is light on his feet.

Hardly anybody ever talks about the Bearcats' offensive line, though. And that might just be the biggest key to Bearcats' 5-0 start and 42 points-per-game average.

"We don't get a lot of notoriety, but that's kind of how we are," senior center Chris Jurek said. "We like not getting our names called. We create for everybody else."

Consider this stat: The offensive line has allowed just three sacks this year despite 188 pass attempts. That's one sack for every 63 passes. The Bearcats rank fourth in the FBS in fewest sacks allowed but have thrown the ball more times than the three teams in front of them.

Some of that stems from the fact that Pike is often in the shotgun, and head coach Brian Kelly's offense is designed to get rid of the ball quickly to receivers in the open field. Still, you shouldn't underestimate how much the offensive line has contributed to the most prolific attack in Kelly's three-year tenure at Cincinnati.

"The biggest change in our offensive structure has been the offensive line," Kelly said. "[Previous coach] Mark Dantonio did a great job of building his offense here, but the offensive linemen, quite frankly, didn't fit the same profile" as Kelly's offense.

"So Year 1 and Year 2 were really about getting our offensive linemen to fit our style. In Year 3, we're so much further along in their ability to play in space, to be more of a zone team than a gap team, a team that can put their linemen out and get out in screens and things of that nature."

Dantonio -- who's now at Michigan State -- liked a Big Ten-style line, with big, hulking guys who could plow holes for the power run game. Kelly has a high-tempo offense that often requires the linemen to run down the field and spring receivers free. That requires svelte, athletic players.

"It's been a pretty significant progression in terms of our body types and conditioning," Jurek said. "Coach's style is to get smaller guys who are more athletic and put good weight on them. That's one of the things I've seen here, and we've been able to do it with a high level of success."

Other than left tackle Jeff Linkenbach, no Cincinnati offensive lineman weighs more than 293 pounds. And even Linkenbach's 311 pounds don't sit heavily on his 6-foot-6 frame. Jurek, Linkenbach and left guard Jason Kelce all started on last year's Orange Bowl team. Alex Hoffman and Sam Griffin are first-year starters who have made the right side just as formidable.

The line will face its biggest test of the season on Thursday night at South Florida. The Bulls' defensive front four, Kelly said, "is as good as you're going to see. They can match up with any SEC or Big Ten teams." Defensive ends George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul have been terrorizing tackles, and the interior linemen are nearly as fast and aggressive. The Bulls' No. 1 goal is to get to Pike and disrupt his timing.

"I don't feel as if these guys have been challenged up front like we are going to do on Thursday," South Florida linebacker Kion Wilson said. "They haven't been hit and been physically abused yet. That's what we plan on going out there and doing."

"Their offensive line plays very well together," Selvie said. "But I think we can do a very good job against them. We've just got to be aggressive, let them know we're ready to play and that it's going to be a long day for them."

Kelly will surely design his game plan around quick throws and screens, rolling the pocket and other things to slow down that South Florida pass rush. The rest of the job will fall on the offensive linemen. If that group remains anonymous Thursday night, then you know they got the job done.

"It will be a tough challenge for us Thursday night," Jurek said, "but I think we'll be up for it."

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

	Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images
	Safety Nate Allen is playing at a high level again and a key component in South Florida's defense.

Nate Allen isn't exactly sure why he didn't seem like himself last season. But the most important thing now is, the South Florida safety is playing at his highest level.

The senior leads the Bulls in tackles (29) and has two interceptions, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He was all over the field defensively in South Florida's wins over Florida State and Syracuse and will be a major key in the attempt to stop Cincinnati's high-powered passing game on Thursday night.

"He makes big plays and shows up time and time again," linebacker Kion Wilson said. "It's always encouraging to have a guy like that on your defense."

Allen is back to his sophomore year form, when he registered 84 tackles, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. He turned two of those turnovers into touchdowns.

Last season, as the entire Bulls' secondary took a step back, Allen had just one interception, wasn't involved in any fumbles and finished with 17 fewer tackles in one more game played. His one turnover was a big one, however; it came in the fourth quarter against Kansas to set up the game-winning field goal.

"I don't know what it was," he says. "I don't know if I have more focus with this being my last year or what. But everything is coming together this year, and everything is working out."

Allen has long been viewed as an NFL prospect with his size (6-foot-2, 207 pounds) and athleticism. But that's only half his story, defensive coordinator Joe Tresey says.

"He's a coach's dream," Tresey said. "He comes to work every day and everything is 100 miles per hour. He's very focused on and off the field, he lives right and it's very important to him."

Allen is the guy who calls out all the checks in the South Florida secondary. He knows just when to break on a ball, as evidenced by his pair of picks at Syracuse. And he's not afraid to lay out for a hit.

"He's always around the ball and is a clutch player," defensive end George Selvie said. "He's really getting physical out there with some big hits. I haven't seen much of that out of him the last few years, but now he's getting out there and putting his body into it."

All of Allen's ability will be needed against Cincinnati and its fleet of receivers, including star Mardy Gilyard.

"They've improved a lot from last year even, and they were really good at the passing the ball last year," Allen said. "We have to know our assignments and know what they do, get in the film room and find as many tendencies as we can. And the we have to keep the ball in front of us and try to make some plays."

Luckily for South Florida, they have one of the best playmaking safeties in the Big East.